Tag: dura-ace

Hey everyone! I wanted to share a few photos and thoughts after seeing and riding the new Shimano Dura-Ace groupset. It features some really nice improvements and has some new tech that stays in line with the prior model.

The lever throw is significantly and noticeably less that 9000 and has a slightly crisper feeling to the shift. It reminded me of old school 9 speed Dura-Ace and how the lever actuation felt like there was a beginning and end to the throw for each shift. The hoods are redesigned as a single compound hood with some grip pattern in the right places. While it resembled the more ergo feel of Campagnolo, it had its own unique feel overall and was pleasant to hold on to.

The front derailleur is by far the most innovative piece of the system (other than the power integration with the cranksets, which I haven’t seen yet). It uses a separate spring tension to actuate the derailleur that is separately adjusted from the cable tension. It is kind of like having a built in inline barrel adjuster at the actual component rather than in the housing routing. It gets rid of the tall arm that was getting in the way of some gravel grinder frames in the 9000 series because it would rub the fatter tires (thus, most were coming spec’d with 10 speed front derailleurs).

The brakes are slightly more responsive and use a nicely redesigned cam action to open and close the brake for narrow or wide rims. It moves opposite to the prior models. The dial goes inward towards the brake rather than opening to the outside.

The crank looked slightly more molded and shaped to accommodate strong pedal forces in the downstroke while giving it a nice blacked out finish that might appeal some more than others.

Lastly, the rear derailleur seems to take a lot of its tech from the XTR derailleur. It now sports a shadow plus style mounting system, but doesn’t include the clutch (likely for weight savings0. A full carbon parallelogram holds the pulleys, which are different in size and closely resemble the slightly larger pulley on 11 speed 105 derailleurs.

Anyways, on to the photos, shown below. I’ll be adding a build review and other tech as we begin to install it in the shop in the weeks to come. Enjoy! Stop by and check it out! I’ll also being adding a few more detailed photos below in the next couple days as I have a chance to take it apart.

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I will be posting a short article tomorrow evening on wheel truing and will also post Part 1 of all the info and tuning/adjustments I have been through and discovered with the Specialized Turbo S Pedelec bike. I look forward to your thoughts! Stay tuned for for great info and photos.

P.S. I also edited the Dura-Ace 9000 front derailleur setup article after reviewing a few comments from readers and my own experiences with the setup.

Specialized SWORKS Shiv frameset with integrated aero brakeset, seatpost, and Sitero saddle. This was a stock build I had etched up a few months back and it had been sitting on our Specialized wall with some grandeur. It’s spec’d with a Dura-Ace 9000 groupset with time trial shifters. Zipp Beyond Black stem was swapped for the standard stock stem setup in order to run a Zipp Vuka Bull base bar with TRP carbon brake levers and Fizik matte black tape. The wheelset currently is a nice set of CXP80 Cosmics, but likely will be switched to Zipp 808s. It’s a really great aero build that will be the epitome of stealth and craftsmanship. Since I built it accordingly before, it’s been easy to set in the new cockpit and all that is left is to route the new cables and tune. Other pressing projects intervened this build today including a Di2 upgrade on a Caad 10 Synapse frameset, a SWORKS lululemon Amira with Ultegra Di2, and an SWORKS hardtail Stumpjumper that needed a final bleed and hose replacement for Formula brakes front and rear. That was also a great build last week that I should have a finals slideshow for tomorrow evening or Sunday. Internal hydraulic routing and XX1 group with a nice tubeless setup. Anyways, I’ve had a long week and got a lot of great projects out to happy riders and need some rest. I’ll have a short article on some tech stuff that has been important to the industry lately tomorrow. Thanks for checking things out!

I was able to attend six of the eight classes offered at the 2013 Park Tool Summit. They were the following: Campagnolo, Cane Creek, FSA, Fox, Mavic, and Shimano. I am going to cover each one and what I thought were the best points to take and apply in the shop. Right below is a slide show of photos I took (sorry for fair quality with cell phone) before the summaries of each class.

The same instructor, who deals with just about every Campy warranty and issue in the US department, was informative and innovative considering that a pallet of half the working material was still somewhere between the headquarters and the summit. Inside views of the Romanian factories and the home factory in Vicenza, Italy. Before recently, Campy was high on security and secrecy to protect larger companies from gaining insight on their special technologies and process. Now, however, they have adopted a much more transparent view of both the parts diagrams and breakdowns and the environment itself in which the parts are produced. Because of the demand for such quantities of these quality components, special precise training was exacted for the employees of their two Romanian parts manufacturing facilities dubbed Mechrom 1 and Mechrom 2. Most of the final assembly of parts is done in these facilities. They have a great traceability program to ensure that the products and parts are accounted for and distributed correctly. For instance, every wheel built has a dot matrix code attached that contains information as to the individual that built the wheel and the exact final tension specs, ensuring the rider that the product is as perfect as possible.

Also, various innovations have been discovered and engineered by Campy that have spread to other industries because of the care and accuracy they hold their standards to. NASA aerospace chassis designs, the formula for casting magnesium (a very very light material), and the first magnesium wheelset are but a few of them.

Great focus on chain design was taught. Every chain created undergoes over 1200 lbs of force to “pre-stretch” them so they last longer and run smoother than any other chain. No rider can exert this type of force which entails literally zero broken chain other than if the installer does not install it correctly. Also, as a side note, installing a “quick link” voids the warranty as they believe only their chain pins meticulously pressed in will be strong enough to support it. In addition, they recommend installing the chain in the smallest chainring and smallest cog to get the right amount of tension.

It was obvious for this seminar that Cane Creek is highly focused on connecting riders together and sharing their experiences for the best ride possible. They seem to have an attitude of figuring out how to make each rider’s bike settings and technologies work best for that individual by developments in things like changing the angle of the fork and detail tuning their new Double Barrel rear shock.

One surprising note to mention in regards to their very successful headset sizing system (S.H.I.S) is that almost all headsets on the market have been narrowed down to 6 top bearings and 4 bottom bearings, making the system even easier. As far as changing the angle of the fork mentioned earlier, bowl-shaped cups hold the bearings that are placed in eccentric matching cups in the headset for several different angles that they include as one set, so you can try different combinations for better climbing or better descents, etc. Also, even with this new system, Cane Creek has a headset fit finder with a database of over 10,000 bikes already and adding new ones each day when submitted by mechanics and other in the industry. This is awesome as it compiles so much data from so many companies and locates it in one place, leaving the guessing game far behind.

The biggest highlight for me was a detailed summary of their 110 headset. From cutout diagrams, you could see the multiple seals keeping the bearings sealed up nicely and backing up the 110 year warranty. Essentially, it is waterproof and to me, rivals the Chris King headset that is also popular by name and by its own sealed system. I mainly think it is just good to have a choice of two almost indestructible headsets. Plus, regardless of which one it goes with, they will quickly replace it if you somehow are able to destroy it.

The Double Barrel rear shock is a great product to explore as well and has so many options for fine tuning without problematic issues that usually arise with other rear shocks with leaking, etc. Seal replacement was very easy and clear to understand and the hands-on experience of doing so really “sealed” in the information.

FSA (Full Speed Ahead) was all about ensuring that their products get better and better and flaws and defects get smaller and smaller with genuine rider honesty of feedback and a willingness and commitment of the company to fix any problem. They were the first company to develop a carbon crank with longevity. Their SLK series has been continually refined with each season of testing as well as their Gravity line for downhill bikes. Being that they are located near Whistler and other major downhill areas, the testing grounds put the equipment and research through extreme trials to bring us what we have today. One cool addition for customer service was a placement of an office on the East Coast to help eliminate the waiting period of time zones to contact representatives. This creates a faster turn around and closer connection of rider to mechanic to rep.

They also have a headset that was developed much like the one I mentioned earlier with Cane Creek, but their point of interest was to develop one that had fewer parts and a more robust interface that could be depended on in harsh conditions. Great length was also taken to “creaks” and “clicks” in integrated bottom brackets, so naturally I wanted to turn a keen ear since I wrote an earlier article on bottom brackets and issues that arise. Several things like the correct materials for installing bearings and retaining them with loctites and compounds that wasn’t as clear before as to how essential it is to choose the correct one. Moving from so many different types of crank spindles and bottom brackets has led them to the development of their BB386 spindle and bearings that is the same size for all of their cranks. They make different qualities of these, but all of the are the same so compatibility is a non-issue.

Fox seemed to hold a different approach than any other class. They split theirs into three separate mini-classes with hands-on working at each. The groups rotated and gained insight on several areas from bushing and seal replacement on forks to lockout tuning and rebound damper adjustment. The most useful in a business sense that they now offered is the bushing and seal replacement. Developing a new tool with Barnett’s Institute, it allows bushing replacement on any fork including Fox and passes the ability to do some services at the shop level rather than always sending it to Fox to have work done. This means that I can get a rider back out on the trail faster and that makes a happier rider.

After the first day of learning, I got to speak with the Fox rep at the social hour following the day. He showed me a suspension unit that is installed on the new Raptor off-road truck. I lifted it and it was quite heavy as trucks are far less concerned with being light rather than strong. It led to something that I wouldn’t have expected. He said that most people think that the bike fork technology and suspensions are derived from their larger parts on off-road trucks and ATVs, etc. He said that this was quite the opposite. The bike technology was hardest to innovate because it not only had to be really strong, but also light enough to ride and that this technology was what actually trickled up to ATV suspensions and then to off-road vehicle suspensions. Pretty cool. They also seemed to be having the most fun out of the other companies.

Mavic was, personally, a beautiful sight to see. Slick blacked-out wheels and carbon spokes all over the place with matching yellow hinting everywhere was the realm of high-end wheels and superior technology. Not only were several points of misconceptions I had cleared up, but it was also confirmation of several things I had been doing right.

Mavic has a philosophy that their wheels are made as a system from the center of the hub all the way to the ground — including the tire. This is why all of their wheels are sold with tires installed. From flashy animations of hub overhaul procedures to French dialogue speaking of dedication to ultimate advancement in technology, they covered essential procedures for replacing carbon spokes in two different wheels (R-SYS and Cosmic Carbone). Plus, the guys teaching the class were the guys that fix the wheels or rebuild them when we send one back for service. It was like finally meeting the guys who had done all the great work I see coming back in shipments and on display in the shop and getting a flavor of their standards and tips.

One thing that really stuck out that I didn’t know before was that they use mineral oil inside the freehub body with a bottom seal. Mineral oil, they said, wasn’t some magical liquid, but just that it was exactly the right “weight” to stay inside and give the freehub years longer of usage and, in its absence, is why some riders have described a high-pitched squeal at times on fast descents.

While much of the material that was covered in the presentation part of the class was what I had recently just finished training on, it was still reinforcing and provided confidence in the hands-on tuning of the new Dura-Ace 9000 drive-train. With its sleek machined appearance and unbelievably improved smooth performance, I have to contend that all three major companies (Shimano, Campagnolo, and SRAM) have narrowed the gap between each other and the game is at its highest level ever.

The new and improved cables and casing also surprised me to its superior feel and had me thinking they snagged the designer for the Gore Ride-On cables that were just discontinued. Coming now in seven colors, the PTFE coating is uniquely applied so wear doesn’t affect performance nearly as much as before, allowing riders to use them for longer with better results. The motto, “friction is the enemy,” really rang true here and great effort was placed into decreasing it and its effect on rider fatigue.

Summary:

All in all, as stated above, the technologies are getting more and more efficient and precise with faster rides and sexier designs. It’s going to be really exciting to see how far they can go in the next couple years.

**** This article will have updates over time due to the popularity of viewing (thanks) and some good tips and setup methods that have been refined over time. Updates will be noted with a * at the beginning of the sentence and at the end. Important updates will now be placed at the top.

*I am not a fan of the Ultegra/105 level polymer cables. The individual circlets of polymer coating frayed even with precise installation and over time, clog cable housing (of all types including sheaths in the new Venge VIAS) badly and increase friction horribly. I highly suggest you install the Dura-Ace polymer cables as they perform exponentially better since the polymer strands are a spiral and do not ever seem to clog the housing under proper installation and maintenance.*

*When installing the front derailleur cable, I wrap the extra length around in my hand (before anchoring it) and pull hard while actuating the shift lever to aid the housing in settling in. At this same time, I like to use the dull edge of a 3-way hex wrench against the inside curve of the housing. This creates a nice V oval shaped channel for the cable to run. With the addition of SP41 grease during installation, that cable is the smoothest shift on the market. I would even suggest using the cables and housing on other brand’s systems.*

*The loctite (and somehow grease?, which shouldn’t be used) on the support bolts for both Dura-Ace and Ultegra (and 105) front derailleurs is not nearly enough to support the high force pressure of the front derailleur over any decent length of time. So, take the time and immediately remove this bolt, clean it, and apply blue loctite all over it. It will help to ensure the front derailleur shifts exceptionally well over time.*

*Chainrings matter!!! Shimano rings work best, followed by in order of our shop experience: FSA, SWORKS, Cannondale SI spiders, ROTOR, SRAM (only Yaw rings, the regular ones do not perform well for racing conditions), Praxis, and then whatever other chainrings are out there including oval rings (I think personally – “You just chose the best shifting system on the market and now want to use it with chainrings that travel up and down under the front derailleur by almost 2cm? Sure, that’ll work beautifully.?) Just saying that there are probably other options that save you those watts without destroying a great mechanical design.*

Also, please note that the new 6800 Ultegra and 5800 105 level front derailleurs from Shimano are also setup the same way except the Ultegra and 105 models use a slightly different converter tool and instead of a pivotal washer, the pin position that the cable passes before the anchor bolt can be removed and flipped for the recommended setting from the converter tool.*

So, I’ve just recently finished learning and training about the new drive-train group from Shimano, Dura-Ace 9000. It is a more complex system than last model (7900) and requires some different tools and setup procedures that I’d like to discuss and bring to light. In particular, the front derailleur is quite different and features extra trim functions (allowing there to be no chain rub) that the Dura-Ace 7900 doesn’t have as well as a great setup tool (TL-FD90) to account for the difference in frame shapes so the derailleur is set up with the same features in all applications. The new front derailleur (FD-9000) sports a longer “arm” to which the cable attaches, providing a smaller swing of the shift lever, which both decreases rider fatigue and produces quicker and more accurate power. Lastly, the feature that surprised me at first is the addition of a frame support bolt for the braze-on FD-9000. It is part of the same design used on the 10-speed Dura-Ace Di2 front derailleur that stiffens the action and equates to a much more “positive” shift. Onto the setup!

Dura-Ace 9000 Front Derailleur

The first thing you’ll want to examine, of course, is which front derailleur will work best on your frame. I recommend always going with the braze-on type and using one of three adapter sizes (34.9mm, 31.8mm, and 31.8mm with a 28.6mm shim). This way, you gain the advantage of having the support bolt as well as the option to use it on a different size frame. Once you’ve selected the correct adapter, attach the derailleur to the adapter using the conical washer and bolt included and torque to the value of 5-7Nm.

Install the adapter onto the frame and lightly tighten the bolt so that you can slide and move the derailleur into position. Line the bottom edge outer plate of the derailleur cage within 1-3mm of the large chainring and position the tail of the derailleur cage 0.5-1mm inward from being lined up with the chainring. This will give you a little room to use the support bolt, which will conveniently and accurately line the cage up parallel to the large chainring.

Using a 2mm allen key, turn the support bolt (located right above the top of the cage) clockwise until it just touches the frame. *Always remove this support bolt and apply blue loctite. The support bolts have been found to move over time when settling in and as the derailleur ages. The loctite already on the bolt is not sufficient to keep the bolt in place.* Then, you’ll remove the derailleur in order to adhere the little metal plate that comes with the component. It comes with two plates. One is curved and one is flat. Use whichever seems to fit better to the frame and make sure the adhesive part is not positioned behind the support bolt. Using isopropyl alcohol, wipe the area where the support bolt touched the frame earlier so the adhesive patch on the plate has a good clean surface to stick to. Once this is done, reinstall the derailleur as mentioned in the prior paragraph and turn the support bolt counterclockwise until the outer plate of the cage lines back up with the large chainring.

It’s on the bike! However, that was the easy part. the next part is critical to setting it up right and making sure all the advantages of the new design are tuned and accurate. Like I mentioned earlier, the FD-9000 features 4 positions (two normal positions and two trim positions – one for each ring) called “low-trim” position, “low” position, “top-trim” position, and “top” position. The start of the adjustments begins with the low-trim position. The anchor bolt for the cable has two different routes that the cable can pass through and the tool mentioned earlier (TL-FD90) will allow you to see which route to choose for the washer (The cable routes the exact same in both cases, but the washer will either be positioned to the left or right). First, remove the anchor bolt from the derailleur and insert the TL-FD90 into the same hole the anchor bolt was in. Route the cable into the slot on the tool and observe if the cable is to the left of the indicator line on the tool or the right. If it is on the left, the anchor plate washer will point towards the left side (off position) and if the cable runs to the right of the indicator line, the plate should be turned to the right (converter or “on” position). The washer behind the anchor bolt is the only piece that changes position based on the converter tool setup. This setup allows the shifting performance is be at its best for each frame design. *I have found, over time, that there is almost no possible way to correctly hold enough tension on the cable when anchoring it to the derailleur. Hold as much tension on the cable as possible (usually best with small pliers) and be sure an inline barrel adjuster is installed in the cable routing by the handlebars or a frame barrel adjuster is set completely in.* While all of this probably sounds pretty confusing, the tool shows a small diagram on each side (on or off) in which to position the anchor bolt washer correctly.

Dura-Ace 9000 Front Derailleur “Converter” Tool, TL-FD90

Onto the adjustments! Once the cable has been torqued to 5-7Nm, we’re ready to get tuning. Ensure that the derailleur is in the low-trim position and shift the rear derailleur to the low gear (the biggest cog). Use the downtube barrel adjuster or inline barrel adjuster and turn counterclockwise until the inner plate of the derailleur cage is within 0-0.5mm of the inside edge of the chain. Then, turn the Low limit screw clockwise until it begins to move the chain and then back it off by an eighth of a turn. Now, we’ll adjust the cable tension by shifting the derailleur into the top-trim position (Shift to the large chainring and then click once on the shifter and notice the derailleur shift back by a small degree). While in the top-trim position and the chain still in the low (11) cog in the rear, use the barrel adjuster to bring the inner plate of the derailleur cage to 0-0.5mm of the inside edge of the chain. Once this is done, shift the front derailleur into the low position. Shift the rear derailleur into the 5th, 6th, and 7th gears to check for rubbing on the inner skid plate of the cage. If there is no rubbing in these three gears, shift to the 4th and 8th cogs and turn the barrel adjuster counterclockwise or clockwise 1/2 turn, respectively to finish the tension adjustment. If there still is no rubbing on the 5th, 6th, and 7th cogs, change the converter position of the washer to the opposite position and repeat the setup. Last thing is the top adjustment. Shift the rear derailleur into the top gear (1) and turn the top limit screw until the outer plate is within 0-0.5mm of the outside edge of the chain. Then, shift through all the gears and check your work.

It’s a lot more complex than derailleurs of the past, but I feel like every adjustment will be what makes this the best front derailleur by Shimano yet (of course, except the Dura-Ace Di2 9070). All of these steps help to ensure against dropping the chain, missed shifts, and less chain rub.

Since that was all a bit dry and technical, renew your flavor for the group by watching this video…

If you are a local cyclist to the area of Northern Virginia, stop by the shop and ask questions. If you’re abroad, comment or email me for clarification or questions.